Vehicle mirror

ABSTRACT

A mirror assembly for an articulated vehicle ( 1, 2 ) incorporates an image sensor which detects a specific image on the trailer so that as the vehicle ( 1, 2 ) turns left the image sensor maintains the image in its field of view and the mirror is automatically adjusted to maintain the driver&#39;s view.

The present invention relates to mirrors for use with vehicles,particularly with articulated lorries or trucks.

It is well known that exterior or wing mirrors in vehicles can have ablind spot where the field of view of the driver is limited by theconfiguration and set up of the mirror, size of vehicle, the position ofthe driver etc. and there have been many arrangements and adjustablemirrors which enable this blind spot to be overcome.

With articulated vehicles and vehicles which are towing other vehiclesparticular problems can arise. For example in a right hand drivearticulated vehicle the left hand wing mirror is set up to provide theappropriate view down the left hand side of vehicle when the vehicle isbeing driven in a straight line. When the vehicle turns left this fieldof view will change as the front towing section of the vehicle on whichthe mirror is mounted turns at a different angle and in a different arcto the towed section. This can drastically reduce the field ofvisibility of the driver and will result in a much larger blind area.

With articulated vehicles a significant proportion of serious and fatalaccidents occur where the left hand side of the vehicle is the firstpoint of contact and in the majority of these accidents lack ofvisibility is at least a contributory factor. In driving schools forheavy goods vehicles there are special accident prevention courses totry to overcome this problem.

Attempts have been made to have mirrors which change their angle whenthe steering wheels of the vehicle are tuned, but these involve complexmechanical linkages and have to be installed when the vehicle is built.

We have devised an improved self adjusting wing mirror which can befitted to any vehicle including articulated heavy vehicles.

According to the invention there is provided a mirror assembly for avehicle, which mirror assembly incorporates a mirror having a reflectivesurface, a mirror adjusting means and an image sensing means whereby themirror adjusting means is able to adjust the orientation of thereflective surface of the mirror in response to images perceived by theimage sensing means.

The invention also provides a vehicle incorporating the mirror assemblyand the invention is particularly useful in vehicle which are towing atrailer, caravan, boat, horse-box etc.

In use, the mirror is adjusted automatically in the normal way to givethe driver the appropriate view in the reflective surface of his mirrorand the image sensing means is set up to detect a specific image. Whenthe vehicle turns, the specific image will start to move out of thefield of view of the image sensing means, the image sensing means thenadjusts itself so that the specific image stays in its field of view andthis causes the mirror adjusting means to adjust the reflective surfaceof the mirror so as to maintain the appropriate field of view for thedriver.

Preferably the image sensing means and the mirror are directly attachedto each other and the movement of the image sensing means and thereflective surface of the mirror are coupled so that, as the imagesensing means adjusts to maintain the specific image in its field ofview, the reflective surface of the mirror is correspondingly adjusted.

The image sensing means can be in the form of a camera or other imagedetector or sensor such as a photodetector etc. Preferably the signalsreceived by the image sensing means are digitised and are an input intoa computing element such as an electronic control unit etc. Thiscomputing element can control a moving means for the image sensing meanssuch as a motor, so that the orientation of the image sensing means iscontrolled thereby. As the purpose of the image perceived by the imagesensing means is only to detect the movement of a specific image, thatbeing an image within which a trailer vehicle is visible, it hasenhanced image recognition features to detect the trailer. In most casesthe ability to detect a contrast in colour or brightness, such as at anedge, is adequate and the specific image detected can be an area of suchcontrast e.g. the end of the articulated section of the vehicle or astrip of bright or strongly reflective material stuck on the vehicle.Alternatively there can be a light or other distinguishable featurefixed to the vehicle for detection and this forms the specific image.This feature or light will be already existing on the trailer and beconsidered a standard component or part of the trailer.

The system can incorporate other detection software so that it candetect other road users, obstacles, persons etc. and can cause a warningsignal or sound when such other road uses, obstacles, persons etc. aredetected, the warning can be incorporated in the mirror or it can be inthe driver's cab etc.

The mirror adjusting means can be any of the conventionally used meanswhich are widely used on vehicles to operate electrically mirrors frominside the vehicle. In the present invention the orientation of thereflective surface of the mirror is controlled by the orientation of theimage sensing means instead of the driver of the vehicle.

There can be an indicator light which will be automatically activatedwhen the mirror adjusting means and image sensing means are operating,this indicator light can be located at a convenient location e.g. in themirror housing etc. The indicator light can be a steady light or it canflash in a manner similar to indicator lights.

Preferably the mirror assembly incorporates a means to transmitadditional data to modules that are integrated to the vehicle'selectrical system e.g. by direct cable connection or by infrared orwireless remote link. This would enable there to be, for example,supplementary control of the whole vehicle turn indicator circuit. Thiscould come into effect when articulation is sensed and can activate thesuitable turn signals on the vehicle. The turn signals on the vehiclecan be activated independently of hazard warning or reversing lightcircuits or in addition to these lighting circuits. If these acombination of theses lights are activated together and an input fromthe mirror system indicator is sensed then these lights may be flashedtogether or in a preprogrammed sequence.

If there is a remote link within the mirror this can also be used totransmit data between a companion mirror fitted the other side of thevehicle. A rolling code would be enabled such that adjacent mirrorsystems on different vehicles will not interfere with each other. Thepositional adjustment of the companion mirror may be controlled from thetransmitting mirror if this feature is fitted or the companion mirrormay have its own image sensor fitted for independent control.

Preferably there is a remote control switch fitted within the cab thatallows the driver to override the mirror system at will. The signaltransmitted from this module to the mirror can be by a wireless link orcan be wired into the vehicles power supply or powered by suitablebattery device. The manual override control for the driver may alsoallow for a driver controlled up-own adjustment of the reflective mirrorto accommodate different size drivers of the vehicle.

The image sensing means can be rigidly mounted to the mirror housing sothat adjustment of the mirror surface by the adjusting means will notalter the position of the image sensing means. Alternatively the imagesensing means can be mounted behind the mirror and connected to themirror surface so Pat, as the mirror surface is adjusted, the visualfield of view afforded by the image sensing means changes sufficientlyto allow this. The image sensing means behind the mirror glass may bepositioned such that it looks through the glass, or is positioned behindthe plane of the mirror but beyond the perimeter edge of the mirror. Ifthe image sensing means looks through the glass the glass may be coatedwith a one way mirror material such that the imaging sensor looksthrough the glass but from the reflective side there is no interruptionof the reflective surface.

In the embodiment in which the image sensing means is mounted above orbelow the mirror glass but still contained within the mirror housing,the housing may be required to have a slightly physical shape toaccommodate the sensor in the lower or upper region of the mirrorhousing.

The mirror assembly of the invention can be retrofitted to vehicles inplace of existing mirrors and, in the case of electrically operatedmirrors, this is a simple straightforward replacement.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an articulated vehicle driving straight;

FIG. 2 shows an articulated vehicle turning left using a conventionalwing mirror;

FIG. 3 shows an articulated vehicle turning left using an embodiment ofthe invention as a wing mirror;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a mirror incorporating an image sensor;and

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the invention.

In the drawings an articulated vehicle comprises a driving section (1)towing a trailer (2) in which the driver's field of view in the lefthand wing mirror is shown by (3). In FIG. 2 the vehicle is turning leftand the driver's field of view is reduced to (3 a). In FIG. 3 with awing mirror of the invention the driver's field of vision is expanded to(3 b).

Referring to FIG. 4 a mirror assembly incorporates a reflective surface(4) in which there is a transparent opening (5) into which fits an imagesensor such as a digital camera. The output from the camera is used tocontrol a motor which turns the reflective surface to control itsorientation As the towing vehicle turns left the image sensor controlsthe motor so that a specific image stays in its field of view and thisautomatically orients the reflective surface to maintain the driver'sfield of view.

FIG. 5 illustrates an image sensor 6 that is operably connected to animage sensor adjusting means 9. An indicator light 10 is shown connectedto the image sensor 6 and as previously described may be mounted in thehousing. A computing element 7 is also shown, which is connected to theimage sensor 6, which inputs signals into the computing element 7. Alsoshown is a means to transmit data 8 such as image data received by theimage sensor and sent to the computing element 7. All of these elementsshown in FIG. 5 interoperate with the invention as described throughoutthis specification.

1. A mirror assembly for a vehicle, which mirror assembly incorporates(i) a mirror having a reflective surface, (ii) a mirror adjusting meansand (iii) an image sensing means whereby the mirror adjusting means isable to adjust the orientation of the reflective surface of the mirrorin response to images perceived by the image sensing means, wherein theimage sensing means incorporates an image sensor adjusting means sothat, in use, the image sensor adjusting means can adjust the imagesensing means so that a specific image stays in the field of view of theimage sensing means and the mirror adjusting means adjusts thereflective surface of the mirror accordingly, and further wherein theimage sensing means and the mirror are directly attached to each otherand the image sensing means and the reflective surface of the mirror arecoupled so that, as the image sensing means adjusts to maintain thespecific image in its field of view, the reflective surface of themirror is correspondingly adjusted.
 2. A mirror assembly according toclaim 1 in which the image sensing means is mounted within thereflective surface of the mirror.
 3. A mirror assembly according toclaim 1 in which the image sensing means is mounted behind thereflective surface of the mirror.
 4. A mirror assembly according toclaim 3 in which the reflective surface comprises one way glass and theimage sensing means is able to perceive images through the reflectivesurface of the mirror.
 5. A mirror assembly according to claim 1 inwhich the image sensing means is mounted beyond the perimeter of thereflective surface of the mirror.
 6. A mirror assembly according toclaim 1 in which the mirror assembly incorporates a means to transmitadditional data.
 7. A mirror assembly according to claim 1 in whichthere is an indicator light which will be automatically activated whenthe mirror adjusting means and image sensing means are operating.
 8. Amirror assembly according to claim 1 in which the image sensing means ismounted behind the mirror and connected to the reflective surface sothat, as the reflective surface is adjusted, the visual field of viewafforded by the image sensing means changes sufficiently to allow this.9. A mirror assembly according to claim 8 in which the reflectivesurface comprises one way glass and the image sensing means is able toperceive images through the reflective surface of the mirror.
 10. Amirror assembly according to claim 1 in which the image sensing means isa camera or a photodetector.
 11. A mirror assembly according to claim 1in which there is a computing element connected to the image sensingmeans and the signals received by image sensing means are an input intothe computing element, there being a moving means for the image sensingmeans controlled by the computing element.